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People could have been infected with COVID-19 as a result of nearly 16,000 positive coronavirus cases not being included in the government’s test and trace scheme, a cabinet minister admitted.
The Secretary for Work and Pensions, Therese Coffey, blamed an “IT failure” within Public Health England for a delay in reporting 15,841 COVID-19 cases In England.
Ministers have been accused of overseeing a “chaotic” system since the flaw was recognized.
Means the total number of coronavirus The infections reported in the coming days will include some additional cases between September 25 and October 2.
He was asked if others might have been infected with COVID-19 Because the NHS ‘test and trace scheme was unaware of the nearly 16,000 cases, Ms Coffey told Sky News: “There may be.
“I have been informed that probably most of [contact-tracing] It has happened in the last item of the week, in the last few days.
“So it is important that we act quickly and that PHE act quickly to see whether or not people should isolate themselves.
“Because I recognize that not everyone who goes through the regime will be identified by the trace and trace regime to undertake that additional self-isolation.”
When asked if the government would issue an apology on the issue, Ms. Coffey pointed to the expected appearance of Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the House of Commons later Monday.
In a previous broadcast interview, Ms Coffey was unable to say how many close contacts of coronavirus cases were not contacted due to the system failure.
“I’m afraid I don’t have that information,” he told BBC Breakfast.
When asked if they had been contacted, he said: “I know that all the people who got the initial results have been contacted, I don’t know the answer to that question.”
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Labor MP Bridget Phillipson, the Treasury’s shadow chief secretary, accused ministers of overseeing a “chaotic” system.
“Testing, tracking and isolating just doesn’t work,” he told Sky News.
His Labor colleague Lucy Powell, a Manchester Central MP and shadow business minister, said it was “very worrying” that infection rates have been revised upward in Greater Manchester following the discovery of the computer bug.
“Local understanding of what is behind this increase is critical before we see increasingly stringent restrictions placed on us,” he posted on Twitter.
“We have already lived under local restrictions for longer (more than 2 months) than in most places.”
Public Health England said Sunday that all those involved received their test results and those who tested positive were advised to isolate themselves.
Deputy Medical Director Dr. Susan Hopkins told Sky News: “There is no delay in people receiving their test results.
“The delays are in reporting to the board and the public and there has been a delay in starting contact tracking.
“Public Health England apologizes for what happened and has taken steps to prevent this from happening again.”
